While Kos has already posted an update to the story I wrote yesterday regarding the strange case of Walter Lara, an undocumented immigrant and college graduate who came into the U.S. at three years old and was set for deportation early next week, I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you in the community who made calls to the Department of Homeland Security on Walter's behalf.
In part because of you, and in part thanks to homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano, Walter is no longer being deported, and has at least another year for authorities to re-examine his immigration case.
By about mid-day yesterday, shortly after writing about the situation, the homeland security department had already been besieged by hundreds of calls to their offices asking for Napolitano, who was the only person with the authority to halt the deportation, to keep Walter in his home country. Numerous people also signed Florida Sen. Bill Nelson's letter to Napolitano, which I'm told was delivered today by the Service Employees International Union.
Clearly what happened here was that the federal government, being pressured by a public opinion that saw the absurdity in sending a talented young man back to a country he has never known for a the "crime" of entering the country illegally when he was a toddler, eventually did the right thing.
This is all because we made the conscious decision to take targeted and organized action. That's what change is about my friends, and again, thank you. It changed a man's life today.
SEIU is also organizing a "Thank Napolitano" if any of you feel inclined to sign that.
The battle is far from over. Only by passing progressive legislation like the DREAM Act, can we stop more kids from succumbing to a situation like Walter's. It will be up for a vote in Congress soon, and I look forward to reporting more on that here and at my blog.
(And also, ahem, in the name of shameless self-promotion, please consider supporting me for a Netroots Nation scholarship.)